Well, I was SORT of successful last week in photographing Scorpius. But between the summer weather (hazy, hot, humid, and thunderstorms just about every afternoon), it hasn't been a great week for stargazing. I got a brief window between clouds one night and shot some pictures of Scoripus's "head", they're posted here. M4 is pretty…Read more Movement (Astronomy: Week of 7/9/17)
Planet
Deep Sky Hunting in Scorpius (Astronomy: Week of 7/2/17)
The feature-rich Milky Way is now visible - let's see what we can find!
Astronomy: Week of 5/28/17 (Occultation, and Jupiter)
Occultation of a binary, and Jupiter up to its regular showmanship
Astronomy, Week of 5/14/17 (Yes, Another Comet!)
There is another binocular comet gracing our night skies, and this may be the last one of the year. It's hovering just below naked-eye brightness at the moment, but it's high in the evening sky (none of this early pre-dawn nonsense), in Bootes, between Arcturus and the Big Dipper, very close to where Comet 45P…Read more Astronomy, Week of 5/14/17 (Yes, Another Comet!)
Astronomy: Week of 4/30/17 (Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower)
Seems like only yesterday I was talking about Jupiter coming back into the evening sky, and now it's shining high and bright early every evening. Never fails to impress, even through a small telescope. Mars is almost gone, vanishing below the horizon soon after sunset. Venus is back and shining bright again, but only if…Read more Astronomy: Week of 4/30/17 (Eta Aquariid Meteor Shower)
The Lyrids Are Coming! (How Do We Know?)
Happy Easter, everyone! As you know, Easter occurs on the first Sunday after the first full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. So we couldn't know when to celebrate it without watching the stars. Before we get to meteor showers, a couple interesting conjunctions this week: The waning gibbous Moon passes by Saturn on Sunday the…Read more The Lyrids Are Coming! (How Do We Know?)
Astronomy: Week of 4/9/17 (Jupiter, and ANOTHER Comet!)
As I mentioned last week, Jupiter was at opposition on Friday, April 7 - this means it's opposite the sun, from our perspective, making it at its most "full" (though, as I've pointed out before, the outer planets are always very close to full from our vantage point). It's also on the same side of…Read more Astronomy: Week of 4/9/17 (Jupiter, and ANOTHER Comet!)
Astronomy: Week of 4/2/17 (Comet Hunters Edition)
Comets, Comets Everywhere - but where the heck are they?
Astronomy: Week of 3/26/17 (Two Elusive Speedsters)
OK, as promised, I'm going to talk about Comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak this week, but there's also another elusive object out there, and this week may be your best chance to catch either of them. The planet Mercury is nearing its most eastern declination from the Sun this week, meaning from our point of view it's at…Read more Astronomy: Week of 3/26/17 (Two Elusive Speedsters)
Flying Squirrel Outdoors 